airport – Page 2 – Pickpocket Bob Arno

Luggage self-check at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam

Luggage self-check

Luggage self-check? There’s nothing new about self-checking in and getting boarding passes from an airport terminal. The KLM check-in machines at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport were the best I’ve ever used.

Luggage self-check: Anticipating that your hands are full, the machine even has a little shelf for your convenience. — Anticipating that your hands are full, the machine even has a little shelf for your convenience.

Luggage self-check: Answer the machine. — Answer the machine.

This was the first time I’ve ever completely checked my own luggage. In fact, we didn’t speak with a human at all before our flight.

The luggage self-check machine was actually sort of fun to use. Instructions on the large screen were clear and simple. “Scan the barcode on your boarding pass” gets you started. Then it asks how many bags you’re checking, and tells you how to place your bag on the platform in the little luggage cave.

The machine spits out a bag tag and tells how to attach it. No need to peel off a backing; the label is ready to stick. The luggage self-check machine then waits for you to do as it has instructed.

Once you’ve confirmed that your bag tag has been attached, the machine swallows your luggage.

A gate rolls down, the luggage platform rises and rotates, the back wall slides up, and the suitcase is dumped onto a conveyor belt.

The luggage self-check process is repeated for each bag. Finally, the machine prints out a baggage receipt.

Unanswered: What happens with an overweight bag? How is the payment done?

It’s all very quick and efficient. There was no waiting when I used the system. The machine communicates clearly and politely, which is about the best we can hope for. You won’t get a rude or stupid bag-checker, but you won’t get a friendly one, either.

And yes—all our bags arrived at our destination.

PowerKiss

I found this red circle embedded in the wooden table at a coffee shop in the Helsinki airport. Next to it was a little placard instructing me to get me to request a ring from the cashier. When I ordered two coffees and a ring, the cashier asked me what kind of device I have and handed over a ring for iPhone on a fob.

Plugged into my phone, I set the ring on the red circle in front of me on the table. My phone charged and I was delighted. I know that cups of coffee are $4 apiece in Scandinavia even without free phone-charging.

PowerKiss is a new Finnish company providing “a wire-free charging solution,” and the vision of releasing people from the inconvenience of using charging cables, and to make charging on the go simple.” The tech company’s gizmo turns furniture into electromagnetic induction charging stations.

I liked it, except for the fact that wires are convenient. You can use your phone while it charges on a wire.

Still, if PowerKiss catches on, I can imagine pulling my own ring out of my bag instead of a cable for charging. I’m just not sure it’s any more convenient than sticking a wire into a USB port. Or what I usually do: plug in my laptop, and wire my phone to it.

airport Travel

Bag tag sabotage

For various reasons, my luggage is hard to steal from. I take hundreds of flights every year, and so far, thank goodness, nothing has gone missing permanently. It’s no secret that there’s a problem with some airline and TSA employees stealing from luggage. It occurred to me that those thieves might sabotage the tags on luggage they’ve stolen from, in order to make the bag “disappear,” rather than to be traced to their handling of it.

Thieves who steal luggage off the carousels are another matter. These have flourished since 9/11, when “security” was taken from the baggage claim area in order to focus on security at the gates.
Currently, there’s a bag theft epidemic at Atlanta Airport carousel.)
My new “bag tag sabotage” theory is based on these facts:

1. A huge number of suitcases go missing in the airline system;

2. I take hundreds of flights (every year for the past 16), yet my bags have never disappeared;

3. My bags are harder than most to steal from;

Therefore, I’m proposing that much of the “lost luggage” has been ransacked, then deliberately made lost.

What do you think?

airport baggage luggage Thieves TSA

TSA thieves

“New figures out today show 381 TSA officers have been fired for stealing from passengers and their luggage, and members of Congress think that just might be the tip of the iceberg,” said an ABC News report which aired September 27.

In a recent sting, ABC investigators walked away from an iPad at airport security and later tracked it to the home of Andy Ramirez, a TSA agent who denied stealing the iPad until the device was pinged and emitted an alarm sound from within his house. Although he was then forced to admit having possession of the stolen iPad, he blamed the theft on his wife. See his denial and ugly blame in the video:

Stealing “feels like being on drugs,” said Pythias Brown, a former TSA luggage screener at Newark airport, who was convicted for the theft of more than $800,000 worth of items over a four-year period. He described a “culture of indifference” at TSA, which “made stealing easy.”

On its blog, TSA calls 381 thieves “a few,” so perhaps they are not concerned.

See the rest of ABC’s report on TSA theft and a longer video. And keep your eyes on your belongings as you go through airport security.

airport luggage Thieves TSA

Bag theft epidemic at Atlanta Airport carousel

A road warrior self-portrait taken in a hotel mirror

Atlanta Airport Police tell a business traveler that luggage theft from the carousel is currently an “epidemic” and “out of control.” The busines-traveler-victim plays detective and reports on the untenable shituation at Atlanta Airport baggage claim:

I was traveling on a two week business trip on a direct flight from San Antonio (SAT) to Atlanta (ATL). I travel domestically about 60% or 70% of the year, often through Atlanta as it is a major airport. This was, however, my first trip traveling to Atlanta as my destination city—on August 19, 2012.

Upon arrival, my commute to baggage claim was confusing. Like any airport, it required a lot of walking, but just when I assumed I had reached baggage claim, there was a subway that I was required to board. The subway was packed. It made at least 4 stops, each time pausing long enough for people to come and go. By the time I finally reached the baggage carousel, bags were just pouring out onto the carousel. None of the other passengers had reached it yet. We were the first! Judging by how the carousel wasn’t even completely filled up yet around the circular metal belt that rotated around, it looked like my business associates and I had arrived a few minutes late at the most. I distinctly recall all of my colleague’s bags just barely coming out for the first time as we stood there waiting. My bags never came out.

I didn’t realize it at the moment, but I was the victim of luggage theft with losses of about $3000. I waited in a long line where people wait in order to determine whether their bags were mixed up and stored in a back holding room for luggage, but the airline staff continued to reassure me that my bags were not back there. When she scanned my bag tag, it said that the last place it had reached was the baggage carousel.

In that moment, I was convinced that someone had come and stolen the luggage before the passengers arrived to the carousel! I looked around the baggage claim area, and the entire place looked suspicious and insecure! There were so many people standing far away looking to have absolutely no legitimate business there, just loitering off of the streets with their jeans sagged down to their knees.

I desperately tried to convince Delta, as well as the airport police, that my luggage was stolen! I knew it was, but nobody would listen. Everyone was as rude as could be, saying things like “you don’t know what you’re talking about. Some one probably mixed it up with theirs.” I knew that wasn’t the case. I had a unique Tumi duffel bag* that I’ve never seen anyone else traveling with. The police, Delta baggage staff, and the TSA were as apathetic as could be. I couldn’t even convince them to look into it, or consider the possibility that it was stolen!

What a nightmare! My bag had two weeks full of business attire, fitness attire, shoes (size 15 which are difficult to find), and prescription medication. I was at Walmart at 2:00AM trying to buy stuff just to wear the next day!

That’s when things got interesting! I began doing some research, convinced my boss to fly me home the following weekend where I had pictures of my 30″ Tumi duffel bag and receipts of all my stolen items. When I flew back to Atlanta to finish the second week of my trip, I persisted with the airport police, showing them pictures of what my bag looks like and documentation supporting the likelihood of my bag being stolen!

First what happened was that the airport police officer who was working at the front desk openly admitted to me that right now they have an “epidemic” (her words) of bag thefts in the baggage claim area of the Atlanta airport. She said, “Just between us, it’s out of control. We’re seeing guys like you come in here every day.”

I finally got through to a police investigator the next day who was on the phone with me as he discovered exactly what happened from looking at the surveillance video footage from the night in question. A black guy in a Kangol golf hat purposely worn low walked in. The detective said, “I can tell he knows what he’s doing”, in reference to how he wore his hat low and kept his head down the whole time. He said he knows that he is a thief because he was purposely standing far away from the carousel, not the way that people stand when they’re legitimately arriving to pick up their luggage. He said he showed up before ANY of the passengers reached the carousel, and then kept he eying my bag which was one of the first ones to come out. Keeping his distance, he waited until the bag rotated the whole way around the carousel until it was closest to his exit. Then he darted in, grabbing it, and taking off before ANYBODY even got there!

The detective openly admitted to me that they’re grabbing bags before people arrive. He said once they reach the building exit to the baggage claim, it’s a total loss and they don’t pursue it any further, no cameras, no investigation, nothing!

I believe that the Atlanta airport has a severe security hole. The thieves are aware of the timing issue where bags beat passengers to the carousels. They know just how easy it is to walk into the Atlanta airport with stolen luggage! They know that they have about 50 feet to walk towards the exit, then they’re scott-free because nobody will even look into it once they’re outside.

The airport is in a really horrible part of town. The baggage claim area is in a place where outsiders can walk in without authorization. After talking with the detective on the phone, I distinctly remember seeing other people walking around the parameter of the baggage claim building, looking around, but there was nothing I could do!

Nobody would help me. One week later, after I finally convinced the investigator to look into the problem, it was too late. I was accurate in my assumptions all along, but it was too late. That thief stole a lot of my clothes. The investigators have a video of the whole thing. They even printed out some pictures for me, but I could never pick them up because the investigator wasn’t present on my way to catch a flight home.

So that is my story. I just don’t know what to do right now because not enough people are aware of this bad security problem. I’ve already emailed the police chief of the airport precinct. I may eventually be reimbursed down the road, but the issue of them not pursuing bag thieves who shark luggage before passengers arrive is underexposed. I was hoping that perhaps by exposing it to more and more people, it will make them obligated to address the problem.

—Jacob

*About his luggage, Jacob added “It’s a wonderful bag–the 30” long black duffel bag by Tumi. The entire shell is of a soft, extra durable canvas material. What I love about it so much is that I could pack 14 pairs of pants and shirts with still room left for shopping, and the bag itself hardly weighs anything.

“Sadly, I’m torn on the decision to purchase my favorite Tumi bag again. The detective who eventually detected the luggage thief on the surveillance video sternly warned me that these thieves are targeting specific brands, and he said that they know exactly what they’re looking for. He said something like this, “On this day it was your Tumi. The day before it was a Louis Vuitton.” I said, “Yeah well he’d get a lot more for that Louis Vuitton than my used $700 bag.” The detective replied, “They don’t care about the bag. They care about what’s in the bag.” That was my big reality check. What would you do if you were me? Buy the bag I lost, or avoid it as a security precaution?”

The fact that the bag is black makes it a target.

airport Atlanta luggage police theft Thieves

Airport security belt steals

There goes our iPad. Swallowed by the security conveyor belt, immediately under the prominent sign that says “The tray stays until it is emptied.” After many uses, I came to
trust that sign.

I didn’t at first. I’d grab and hold the tray before it got to the dangerous end-of-the-line, and fight the force of it’s mechanized trajectory. Because I knew: at the end of the belt, the tray drops swiftly to a lower level and is carried back to the security officers and then on to line’s starting point, where passengers take an empty tray.

At some point I noticed all the stuff mounted above the end of the conveyor belt. There’s a video camera, a mirror, and some sort of sensors. I tested the tray-trap—warily, I left a jacket inside. The tray waited at the end of the line until I removed the jacket. Huh.

I became complacent. Next time, I didn’t pick up my jacket from the blue-bottomed tray until I had my computer re-stashed. I let my belt lie while I grabbed my mini-toothpaste.

And when Bob’s iPad sailed through with it’s light gray cover, I kept an eye on it but didn’t fetch it.

Bob takes a long time to get through security. He travels with his MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad, video camera, and six or seven hard drives. (Gotta be productive on the road…) We have a strategy: I whiz through and pack up my stuff in 45 seconds or so, then keep an eye on his stuff while he’s spreading out equipment in multiple trays and taking off his belt.

Luckily, I saw the machinery swallow his iPad. If I hadn’t have noticed, it could have been forgotten in the confusion (and rush).

“Stop, thief!” Or no. I said something else. “Our iPad’s been eaten!”

“Would have made a nice little present for the security officers,” Bob said.

We could easily have walked away from it. I wonder how many people do? This security check point is at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport. London Heathrow has the same setup. I’ve seen it in other airports, too, but I can’t remember where. Copenhagen? Munich?

airport Security

Airport teargas box

Arlanda airport, Stockholm—When I first saw this box from a distance, I took it to be some sort of dispenser. As in, get your teargas here. On closer inspection, I realized the locked box was a place to deposit your voluntarily forfeited pepper spray.

airport sweden Travel

Police, security, challenge photographers despite public right

Is it legal to take photos at airport security checkpoints, or not?

Occasionally I’ll politely ask a TSA officer if I may take a picture. Usually, they say no. You know, “for security reasons.”

But not always. A few times they’ve said yes, but don’t take pictures of the X-ray machines. That always leaves me a little puzzled: which X-ray machines? Which part of them? But the TSOs didn’t seem to care and left me unsupervised.

Turns out that many police and security officers, TSA included, aren’t exactly aware of what’s allowed and what isn’t. Believing photography is prohibited, or erring on the “side of security,” or just exercising their authority, no photos is the default reaction.

And many of us, meek and obedient citizens that we are, we accept that. Or we choose not to challenge the uniform. We don’t know what’s legal and what isn’t, either. We tend to have, in the back of our minds, that it’s illegal to photograph bridges, airports, even police officers.

But yes, it is perfectly legal to take pictures at TSA checkpoints, with a few minor limitations (not the X-ray monitors, not if you interfere with the screening process). You can even videotape if you like—yes, you can film the officers, too. You might be challenged. You might be delayed by the officers. You might even miss your flight.

In fact, pretty much anything can be legally photographed from a public place (again, with a few exceptions), including crimes in progress, police officers, federal buildings, the New York subway, and security checkpoints. Yep, if you can see it, you can shoot it. Pretty much. I’m talking strictly about the U.S. here.

The Washington Post’s interesting July 26 article, Freedom of photography: Police, security often clamp down despite public right reports that photographers are challenging unwarranted restrictions and posting disallowed photos online (usually after being forced to delete them, then recovering them).

…rules don’t always filter down to police officers and security guards who continue to restrict photographers, often citing authority they don’t have. Almost nine years after the terrorist attacks, which ratcheted up security at government properties and transportation hubs, anyone photographing federal buildings, bridges, trains or airports runs the risk of being seen as a potential terrorist.

Portland Oregon attorney Bert P. Krages II has posted a useful, printable document, The Photographer’s Right: Your Rights and Remedies When Stopped or Confronted for Photography, which should be in every photographer’s camera bag. On his website, Mr. Krages says:

The right to take photographs in the United States is being challenged more than ever. People are being stopped, harassed, and even intimidated into handing over their personal property simply because they were taking photographs of subjects that made other people uncomfortable. Recent examples have included photographing industrial plants, bridges, buildings, trains, and bus stations. For the most part, attempts to restrict photography are based on misguided fears about the supposed dangers that unrestricted photography presents to society.

This issue is pertinent to Bob and me in our thiefhunting exploits. We often feel on thin ice when shooting thieves in the wild, especially abroad. And perhaps sometimes we are. We’ve been challenged and chastised many times. Once we had a videotape seized, but we’d seen it coming and swapped the tape for a blank, pocketing the valuable footage we’d just shot.

I was admonished, not too long ago, for taking a few shots of a pair of armed and uniformed police officers drinking whiskey at an airport bar. Okay, it was in Trieste, Italy, not in the U.S.; I have no idea what my legal rights were. The officers leisurely sauntered over, after they’d finished their drinks, and said no photos. Okay. Then they left. Much later, when I left, they made a beeline for me and made me delete the photos. Had they been lying in wait? Anyway, I couldn’t recover the images.

airport Photography photos Security TSA video

More airport luggage theft

Sabrina Zotter, alleged luggage thief in Phoenix

Airport luggage theft: Sabrina Zotter, alleged luggage thief in Phoenix — Sabrina Zotter, alleged luggage thief in Phoenix

Imagine the post office delivering your mail to a big open heap, mixed with the envelopes and boxes of 300 strangers. The honor-based system would have you pawing through the pile and taking just what’s yours. No one would guard the items; no one would check who took what.

Why not? The airlines do it. Nowadays, we even pay for that flawed, partial delivery system.

Airport luggage theft

Theft of luggage from airport baggage carousels is too easy. Yet another bag thief has been arrested for stealing luggage out of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Excuse me—”suspected” bag thief. Phoenix Police say she’s been under surveillance since last September. I’m sure Zotter’s not the only baggage thief operating. Neither is Phoenix the only airport we need to worry about, though it may be particularly easy for thieves.

I wrote about luggage theft at Las Vegas McCarran Airport here, and about European and African airport thieves here.

Thief “JD” only pretends to steal luggage at baggage carousels. That’s his way of distracting tired travelers in order to get their wallets. “Right now, I can go to McCarran airport and go to baggage claim and beat some stings,” he says. “Because security is, evidently, lax, and the people are rushing to get their bags, and the bags are coming off the trolley. And when he’s stooping down to get his luggage— …˜Oh, is that mine, sir?’ Shake him up. …˜Oh, is this mine? It looks like mine.’ If you’re moving, and I got someone with me, and you’re in the airport, I’m going to play you. If I feel like I can work you I’m going to play you.”

I fly into Phoenix frequently, and into Las Vegas several times a month. Since bag tag checkers were removed ages ago, I’ve never seen any security at either airport.

Airlines are blamed for a tremendous amount of lost luggage. How often are they, too, the victims of these baggage thieves? It would be in their interest to band together and pay for a little security at the baggage carousels.

airport baggage luggage Thieves

Why thieves prefer black bags when stealing luggage at airports

Why Thieves Prefer Black Bags

Yeah, this story’s everywhere, about the Phoenix couple who made a living stealing luggage off the airport carousel. Police found almost a thousand suitcases in their house.

Not a single report has pointed out that the stolen luggage is almost all black. I described this strategy in a post more than a year ago, and in my book way before that. This is an M.O. This is something to notice and learn from.

Thieves prefer to steal black luggage because so much of it looks alike. If the thief is caught red-handed by the bag’s owner, he only has to say sorry, it looks just like mine. And he’s out of there. Scot-free.

Look at the photos on the right. This is just a fraction of the bag booty as it was gathered on the thieves’ property. The bags we see are almost all black.

The bag-boosters are not rocket surgeons. Not a lot of brain power goes into concocting a brilliant strategy. These two, Keith and Stacy King, traipsed into the baggage area straight from the parking lot. They might not have been caught had they walked up a level, then come down the escalators as if from the gates.

They’re not the first to steal baggage off the conveyor belts. Earlier this year, a man was arrested at Dallas Fort Worth airport. He admitted taking over 400 bags, and police linked him to at least 600. He also “worked” at airports in Houston and Tulsa, allegedly stealing a number of suitcases every day. And long before that, a Las Vegas man regularly supplied a second-hand clothing store with the stuff from bags stolen off McCarran’s baggage belt. [Linked to above.]

After 9/11, airports moved security staff from arrivals to departures. With no bag tag checkers, anyone can saunter out with anything. We passengers have minimal control. We can get to the carousel promptly, but what happens when bags get lost or delayed, or the bags make it but we are late? You’ve seen the jumbles of suitcases massed outside baggage service offices in arrivals halls. Do they look protected? At the most, they’re penned in by a crowd-control ribbon. No one will take responsibility. Not the airlines. Not the airports. Not TSA. Not police.

So here’s the obvious lesson. Buy pink luggage. Or green, or silver. If you have black, decorate it.

airport luggage Thieves